HMO licensing on the agenda for round table

Council bosses have put greater oversight of HMO licensing on the agenda for a housing roundtable in February following pressure from Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Al-Hamdani.

Following repeated challenges over a substantial number of HMOs in Oldham which had expired licences, and the discovery that none of the Council’s oversight and scrutiny committees were reviewing the licences, the situation is now going to be reviewed with input from councillors.

Councillor Al-Hamdani said: “HMOs are vital to provide housing in our borough, but if they are poorly run, they can leave vulnerable people in insecure and appalling conditions.

“Often people only complain at the planning process, but it is at licensing where the current conditions of the buildings are checked, along with meeting any terms such as around antisocial behaviour and security.

“That was why I was horrified to find out that there was no public oversight of the process, and that several HMOs were still in use despite their licences having expired as much as six months earlier.

“It is vital that the licensing process is far more robust. There should be more powers from central government to allow us to challenge owners, but the Council can and should be already be doing more.

“We can’t end up in a situation again where this number of HMOs are allowed to carry on running without the proper licences in place. I’m glad the Council has started to listen to my concerns – I’ll be happier when they’ve actually done something to give us greater opportunity to challenge poor quality housing.”